Property Photography

Property photography by a professional photographer can increase the perceived value of your home or gîte and attract more visitors. The difference between an estate agent's photographs and a professional photographer's photos is often astonishing.

If you want your property to stand out from all the other listings on the internet, it's well worth the investment to own a set of excellent photos that you will be able to use again and again.

Below are some 'before-and-after' images from a house in the Dordogne in France that I photographed for someone who was trying to sell the house but was getting hardly any visitors. And no wonder, when you compare the agent's shots with mine.

(Note: I have used a different (wider) ratio on all my shots which give a greater feeling of space to each room. Also, if you click on any of the images on the right you can see a slideshow of just my images.)

Kitchen Before: No view through the window, vertical lines not straight, cluttered foreground

Living Room After: Balanced exposure for indoors and out, good choice of angle to include view through window and to maximise the interior space, balanced colours

More shots below of the same house

Click any image to enlarge

What to expect from professional property photography

Professional property photography shows the use of design skills as well as technical skills to show off your home or gîte to best advantage. The skills required are very different from those of a wedding or portrait photographer for example. Here's what to expect:

Good sense of design: the photographer should understand the dynamic compositional elements of a room and choose the right angle, lens, lighting and so on to ensure a pleasing aspect in all the images

Should have the right equipment: a wide-angle lens is necessary to show the maximum amount of space in a room. A point-and-shoot camera will not be good enough.

Be able to balance exposure inside and out: in order to make great shots of the interior and see the view outside the window in the same shot, takes knowledge of how to get correct exposure. It also needs additional lighting such as an off-camera Speedlite for example. If you have a great view through a window it can be a real selling feature.

Possesses good Photoshop skills: well-exposed photographs are important but what happens in the digital darkroom (i.e. Photoshop) afterwards is just as important. For example, a good photographer will be able to balance colours, remove unwanted objects, straighten vertical lines (always necessary if using a wide-angle lens). A whole host of other techniques may be used, depending on the particular property shoot.

Able to add in a blue sky: not every day is sunny with a blue sky (even in France!) but a good property photographer should be able to add in a blue sky to the main shots of the outside of the property, at little or no cost.

Give a guarantee: a good property photographer will offer a guarantee. I offer to reshoot the whole property if you are not satisfied with the images you receive. I can't say fairer than that!

How much does professional property photography cost?

If you are selling your house and it is, say, a three-bedroomed detached house with a medium sized garden, I will spend about 2-3 hours at the property and another 2-3 hours working in Photoshop afterwards. This will result in around 15 photographs which is usually sufficient if you are selling through an estate agent.

Your images will usually be available within 2 days of the photo shoot and you will be sent a link to download them immediately.

I charge €250 for up to 15 images. My travel costs are included at no extra charge if you live within half an hour of my home (I live in Chantillac which is next to the Charente and Charente-Maritime border) but I request that any additional travel time be paid for pro rata. If you have a different type of property, or other needs, I would be happy to send you a free quote.

You can download my free Guide to Property Photography PDF which explains clearly everything you need to know or just drop me an email through the contact form. I look forward to hearing from you!

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